Testing Haikubox: Can This Device Really Identify Your Backyard Birds by Their Songs?

Haikubox is a device that claims to be able to identify your backyard birds by song, send you notifications and recordings, and also share these data with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (if you want it to). I put the Haikubox to the test to see how well it actually performs in my backyard. You can learn more about Haikubox on their website: haikubox.com/ or oder from Amazon below.
Gear Links (As Amazon Associates we do earn from qualifying purchases)
Haikubox: amzn.to/4aNBd9Z
Panasonic LUMIX FZ80 4K Digital Camera
Used for most bird videos) - check credits as we do source some photos/videos elsewhere which is noted in the description
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Cayer FP2450 Fluid Head Tripod, 75 inches Aluminium Tripod
Derek's lighter tripod
amzn.to/3suX5CK
Andoer Video Tripod Aluminum Alloy 67 Inch
Derek's heavier tripod
amzn.to/3uRLTTk
Nikon D5300
Derek's vlogging and macro camera
amzn.to/3HF8jeh
Rode VideoMicPro Compact Directional On-Camera Microphone
Derek's external microphone for Nikon D5300
amzn.to/3oH8YnS
Connect with us!
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Thanks to Terry Sohl for allowing us to use his range maps
www.sdakotabir...
0:00 Intro and Unboxing
2:12 Pairing with the Apps
4:24 Setup
4:55 After Day 1
7:19 After a Few Days
9:23 Song Recognition Test
10:18 Final Thoughts
All other photos and videos by Derek and Ryan Sallmann
#Birding #BirdWatching #BadgerlandBirding

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Important note from Haikubox after sharing my video with them: "1) You played a few sounds to your Haikubox and it didn't pick up the Sandhill Cranes, while later it did pick them up when they really were outside. That may be because we have a filter so birds that are not supposed to be there won't be identified. It changes every week, and is based on when birds are usually around. Summer-only birds will not be identified by the Haikubox in the winter, even if you play the sound to the box. in the winter It might be that Sandhill Cranes wouldn't be identified when you played the sound, but even a few days later, they would be identified. Or the Sandhill Crane was identified at Low confidence which wouldn't show up if you were only showing Med confidence or higher. 2) I know you scrolled down and listened to a lot of one-time identifications that were wrong. It was helpful to hear your description of what was a one-time mistake and what the box got wrong frequently. We definitely want to make this better, so every time you label those identifications as incorrect, it is super helpful. We use them to train and retrain and teach the computer the difference between right and wrong. It's a really big challenge." They also offered to send me an update that is supposed to help pick up owls, so we should be receiving that on our box soon! They were really great to work with and very responsive!

[@heidi22209]

The Haikubox def needs some work. CEDAR WAX WING.❤

[@Oltoir]

Nice! looking forward to a follow up vid with some hootin!

[@LisaSaffell]

I don’t like the idea of them filtering sounds based on what is expected because how is it so supposed to notify you in the event of a rarity? I would rather get all notifications then I will know to look for the bird.

[@nrgltwrkr2225]

I think I'll wait a bit, based on your review. Sounds like a few bugs need to be worked out and a few tweaks made, but overall, a very exciting new tool for birding! Thank you for reviewing it!

[@LisaSaffell]

Keep thinking about getting one but I have a very busy road behind me. I imagine that the AI will continue to get better. Thanks for the review

[@user-qw5pm6lr9d]

That was really cool! I often hear Carolina wrens in the backyard.

[@heidi22209]

Oooo! Product reviews!

[@JstnofFLA]

I wonder how it knows the difference between a mockingbird or other mimic birds and other birds. I know I have a mockingbird that mimics an American Robin a lot.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Sometimes I don’t think it does lol

[@charlesdu84]

Great video!

[@Oltoir]

Nice! I'm in the middle of listening to the audiobook of "A Wing and a Prayer, The Race to Save Our Vanishing Birds" (Highly recommend if you haven't read/listened to yet!), and they mentioned haiku boxes so I was likely going to purchase one in the near future, so thanks so much for reviewing! I might have not heard correctly, but was there a way to "report" the error? Hopefully, that way they can start training their model with "ignore whatever this sound was" examples! Happy Birding!

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Yes! You can select “no it’s a…” or “no it’s not correct” for particular recording. Will have to add that book to the list!

[@Leafygreen123]

Hi everyone! Wondering if you could help out a fellow birder! My husband and I are going to Denver Colorado area at end of July for five days and are wondering if anyone knows a good guide we could hire to show us some local hot spots? Or, simply a couple hot spots! We have never birded in Colorado so it will be a a totally new experience! We need to do some research to figure out what species we’d be likely to see there at that time of year. Thank you in advance! Cheers and happy birding!

[@BadgerlandBirding]

We might be able to help you out! Please send us an email with a phone number we can contact you through: [e-mail]

[@markshen3280]

Is this water proof ? Is it better to install it under a roof or awning ?

[@BadgerlandBirding]

It’s waterproof but you don’t want it laying in water or anything

[@SuperDaveP270]

Interesting. I had thought of getting it but with your review, I might wait. I also keep getting Purple Finches, Pine Siskins, and Red Crossbills all the time on Merlin, too. I dislike when it tries to make an ID off a single "tik" or "sip* call. However, Merlin kept giving me Carolina Wren and I kept ignoring it...then I got a Carolina Wren! So that was cool. We need a better way to report these incorrect IDs so they can tweak their database and make improvements.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Where do you live? The first 3 you listed are often just flyovers so it could actually be picking up their flight calls 👀 but it may also just be wrong

[@SuperDaveP270]

Juneau County, WI. I have gotten all those birds here, just not with the frequency Merlin would have me believe *LOL* The Purple Finch frequency annoys me, because I do get them here but I can be looking right at a House Finch, watching it sing, and watch Merlin light up with Purple. So something in their library has some overlap between the two.

[@markshen3280]

Can this be carried around using GPS / WiFi outdoors ?

[@BadgerlandBirding]

No, has to be hooked up to power. Use the Merlin Bird ID app or BirdNet for that

[@wattsland]

Could you please do a video for the birds of the Pacific N.W. I am going backpacking in washington in 10 days? I love your videos and would enjoy getting educated on the Pacific Northwest birds, like their calls and what they look like.

[@wattsland]

Do you already have a video regarding this topic?

[@rhcp8390]

I'm interested in how this will stack against Terra. Still waiting on a release date!

[@heidi22209]

Osprey nest that was on the Wisconsin River in Portage was so rad. They took the tower down they nested on. Dumb.

[@live2walk]

That Kestrel sounded like an American Kestrel to me. Not sure what you were expecting instead?

[@BadgerlandBirding]

I hear an American Robin

[@kurtniznik8116]

How does the call ID compare to Merlin?

[@donalexander6674]

In my experience, Birdnet isn’t nearly as accurate as Merlin and Merlin is pretty good but not perfect..

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Worse than Merlin since it’s BirdNet

[@BadgerlandBirding]

I agree

[@BK-db3gc]

Thanks for the nuanced, candid commentary

[@nebraskabirdwatching9521]

And Merlin is free

[@RichardBaker-yk7jt]

I need a box that tells you when bird poo

[@heidi22209]

I have Bird Net!